Chapter Twenty-One

“No I’m telling you, that one doesn’t mean “hand”, because it’s used here and “hand” wouldn’t make sense!”

Metrodora’s voice was hoarse, having been worn down by all of the shouting to avoid their words being lost in the winds. Though it was quieter and less wild by the pillar, that was a comparative assessment. Will had tried to get them to all use the Party system, but it was more annoying when you were trying to have a fluid conversation, so they’d quickly abandoned it.

Currently, after more than two hours of sitting around with the pillar reading and re-reading the hieroglyphics, progress was slow but steady. Metrodora and Okembe both had taken to the task quite well, and he found himself not even having to do much to help them as they took the challenge and ran with it.

He didn’t actually know how to work this particular trigger, although he was familiar with some of the glyphs on the pillar. The glyph they were currently debating meant “arms”, so he let Met and Okembe argue, confident they’d get there soon enough. Unk and Daph weren’t quite as enthused by the puzzle, and so had begun wandering the area around the pillar watching for monster attacks. Will wished he knew how the New World Foundation and the Wayfarer’s Guild had got a version of the internet working in the Tower during the first timeline, just so he and the others could pass the time as the group’s brains worked out the task.

Daph’s firebird swooped close to Will, and he dodged to avoid being clipped by its’ burning wing. He turned back to Daph, who was bent over laughing, and then saw Unk chuckling alongside her. The pair were the closest of the group, naturally, with a penchant for inside jokes, and he gave them both a mock scowl in response before turning back to the pillar.

“Hey, that one at the base there, it’s unique right? That’s the only place that glyph is on here?”

He pointed out the glyph which represented the activation code, fake curiosity in his voice.

Okembe turned to nod, but then snapped his head back to the pillar and started tracing a finger across several glyphs. Metrodora replied verbally, comparing her notes with the pillar in a shaking hand.

“Yes, but we think it means engage or start or something, because it’s similar to this one here.”

She pointed out another glyph, and Will suppressed the desire to cheer. They were making much quicker progress through this than he thought he could have, even with his future knowledge assisting. He’d have had to cheat and just brute-force things by trying all the methods he knew to trigger Hidden Events in general. Okembe was still staring and tracing, and then he let out a delighted whoop, something quite unusual for the dignified man. He coughed and marshalled his features back into the serious intellectual guise he usually wore before sending his words via the Party system for everybody to hear clearly.

[I believe that if we bleed on the pillar and grab it, then all we need to do is say a specific word and it should activate. We just need to define this glyph here. Okembe]

Will had no idea how the man had made that connection from his hint, but he was glad of it. Daph and Unk rushed over, and they all began to stare at the final glyph as though their combined attention would force it to transform into plain English. What followed was a hectic fifteen minutes of overlapping voices as everyone tried to speculate, before Daph cut through the discussion with a great point.

[Do we think there’s any punishment if we say the wrong word? Daph]

Metrodora and Unk turned from their argument, and Okembe looked up from the notebook he was flipping through. Daph blushed at everyone’s attention, but sent another message.

[We know it’s something like start or activate or engage right, so why not just grab it and say them all till one works? Daph]

“Ow!”

Unk yelped in pain as he slapped a gauntleted palm to his face and cut himself above the eyebrow. That turned the group from silent shock to laughter, and then Okembe sent a message to the group as well.

[I believe that option may be our best bet. Okembe]

Unk, as the one with the highest Endurance and the most blood to lose, volunteered to smear some of the result of his face-palm on the stone and then wrap his thick arms around the stone. Even he couldn’t reach all of the way around, but neither Metrodora nor Okembe thought that was an issue. After running through the words start, activate and engage, their fourth guess of “go” turned out to be the solution. Unk stumbled backwards from the pillar and righted himself, turning to the group and confirming their success.

[I’ve got a map in my head. It’s incomplete though. Unk]

Thankfully, Metrodora had already worked out that the pillar directed them eastward, and so the group quickly agreed to set off in that direction to see if they could complete the mental map. Unk figured out how to send it through the Party Interface to save them all having to slice themselves open, and Okembe had taken the lead as navigator, using Telepathy to keep them aware of any attacks before they came. Bolstered by success, the group made great time to the second pillar, and it took only a few glances to confirm that this worked via the same mechanism.

[Got it. Sending now. Will]

As far as he could tell, the Cave of the Snow Sentinel (as it was now labelled, with the complete map revealed) wasn’t anywhere near the pillars. It looked as though they’d be better off returning to the safe area to rest and prepare then heading for it fresh rather than trying to navigate straight to the cave from their current location.

“So, I think that both proves my guess about these Hidden Bosses, and gives us a good point to call this trip a success!”

They’d found a shelter from the wind and snow under a cliff-face near the second pillar and headed there to discuss their next move. The others looked excited, but he could see in their faces the wear of the long hard trip.

“So what now, we go after this Snow Sentinel? Think it’ll absorb Mana or can I let Phineas really rip?”

Will didn’t comment on the name she’d given her firebird, just shook his head.

“I want to get us rested and prepared before we take on a Hidden Boss. The group that we got information from lost one of their guys, and I don’t want that to happen to us. I say we hit the safe area and take a day or two off. You can do whatever you need to, then we’ll plan out a proper strategy. We don’t know the exact abilities of the Boss, but we can still make some general plans to work with.”

The prospect of getting out of the permanent winter of the Zone, even for a few hours, was enough to get the others on board, and Will led his triumphant party back to the safe area to celebrate and plot their assault on the Snow Sentinel. The first Key piece was in their grasp.

Two days of preparation followed. Will took the party out into Zone 1 one or two at a time for training, making sure they were all comfortable and making progress with their abilities. Daph needed to practice with a wider variety of summons, Unk needed sword practice, things like that.

He also spent a good amount of time talking to Brunjar, Dane and the other Climbers who kept things orderly in the safe area, trying to further his Pioneer reputation and tap them for information about the wider world. Trade was booming in the safe area, with whispers that the Tower would be going public in the next few weeks or months motivating people to try and get a deal before competition surged, and they were able to acquire some decent stuff without needing to pay Store prices or worry about stock.

While Will considered trying to improve some of his gear, he decided instead to spend most of his Coins on basic supplies and a new Spell to boost his defence. His gear wasn’t the limiting factor right now, and he’d be able to improve it later. The morning of the 10th January came, and Will and his team passed through the gate to head for the Boss.

[One coming from the right. Okembe]

[Got it. Daph]

A shouted incantation sent a hare constructed of pure electricity sprinting across the snow to stun a winter hog that rushed towards the group, and it was followed by a flying sword and a beautifully aimed vial of explosive that blew a chunk out of the pig’s head. The team was working together like a well-oiled machine, conserving resources and dealing with any attacks as quickly as possible to ensure they weren’t depleted for the Boss.

Even as they trekked, they waved to a group of Climbers they’d seen entering the Zone the previous day, currently facing down a group of Yeti on an opposing peak. That had been a clue Will had let out into the safe area, mentioning offhand that he’d heard the yeti would attack anyone who cast an ice Spell inside the Zone. Since they had decent loot, a few groups had thanked him for the tip and set out to form hunting parties. He planned to buy some leg armour that the yeti dropped as loot from them once this Zone was over, actually.

[Cave’s up ahead, shall we drop the tent and do final prep? Met]

Unk had already removed the folded tent from his new Spatial Bag. They weren’t as good as Will’s ring, but he’d decided to gift them all one anyway, as they held a lot more space than the initial gear packs could. He’d given Metrodora the ingredients he’d been harvesting, and had covered the cost of a new, more powerful, sword and shield for Okembe. As Unk unfolded the tent and allowed it to swell to size, magic inflating it and heating the inside, Will and the others crowded inside. It was more expensive, and higher quality, than the ones they’d been using before, but still not big enough to comfortably fit all 5 of them.

“Okay, all the information I could get out of the Hunter Squad indicates that the Boss was more powerful than anything they’ve faced so far, that it was a single enemy without any minions, and that it appeared out in the open. We don’t know how much of that applies to the Snow Sentinel, but keep it all in mind as we go in. You all know your roles.”

Much of the goodwill and reputation Will had built so far had been spent on getting the group that recovered the Key Piece from Zone 3 to spill some of the beans about their experience. This gave him pretext to reveal more of what he knew about the Zone 1 Boss, something he was desperate to do for the sake of safety - although in all honesty he was hardly an expert on these low Floors, and getting more clarity was always helpful.

“We’re ready Will. Remember I brewed you guys all a Last Resort Potion, but be careful. The backlash really sucks.”

“Thanks Met. Right everyone, like she said. If you need to, drink the Potion and get to the edge of the room, where we’ll try and keep the Boss off you till you can recover. If you can’t recover, just try and stay clear.”

Final preparations were made, last words of advice and inspiration shared, and they stepped over to the snowdrift where Okembe thrust a branch through telekinetically to make sure it was safe. When the branch entered and came out perfectly dry, they moved through the illusion and into the vast icy cave.

The room was huge, with slick ceilings covered in vicious icicles like stalactites several dozen feet in the air, and with similarly shiny and spiked walls covering the entire circumference of the circular space. Even on the floor, which was like an ice rink, was periodically interrupted by icicles that thrust upwards anywhere from a foot tall to taller than even Unk. Will sent a quick mental message, and everybody sent back agreement. The friction increasing solution he’d had Metrodora treat everyone’s shoes with had been hard to justify “just in case” but it was paying off already. He thanked John, who had been the one to relay that little trick. He’d have had a much harder time moving and dodging as fast as he usually did without steady footing.

A loud cracking sound forced everyone’s attention to the far end of the room, where a particularly large icicle was breaking apart like an egg. Weapons drew and the group readied themselves, Unk and Will stepping out in front of the others, and with an almighty boom the icicle exploded to reveal a hulking snow-creature with two huge swords of nearly transparent ice, which roared and began to run towards them with steps that shook the cave. The Snow Sentinel was out, and the Hidden Boss fight had begun.

Will burst into action, outpacing Unk as the man ran to intercept the Sentinel’s swords and leaping up to deliver a powerful slash with Shout right across the monster’s chest. Snow and ice exploded outwards, pelting him with painful shards, as he dropped into a roll and dodged a retaliatory kick. Alacrity surged in his veins, and he had Sharpen active on both blades, trusting in his deeper Mana Pool to sustain the more complex usage of the Spell.

One ice blade soared towards Okembe, who’d abandoned his sword to instead use his telekinesis on Metrodora’s various flaming concoctions. The holes and melting patches in the Boss indicated this strategy’s success, and as Daphne’s firebird harassed the Sentinel’s face and Will delivered a flurry of blows to its legs, Unk activated Defender’s Charge [E] and moved 10 steps in one, raising his shield and grunting with effort as it blocked the huge ice sword.

[The Boss is healing. Okembe]

“Good, they’ve noticed it.”

Will kept the Sentinel focused on himself, Unk helping to prevent its’ occasional swipes at the rest of the party. Daphne’s firebird was a constant ally, aiming repeatedly for the face and eyes of the monster and allowing Will to keep ahead of its furious attacks. He was wearing it down, but the gimmick of this Boss meant that wouldn’t be enough on its’ own. The Sentinel swept one sword in front of its’ face, temporarily dispersing Daphne’s summon, and the other lashed out and sent several of the icicles poking from the floor flying across the room towards Metrodora and Okembe.

Unk’s Skill wasn’t available yet, so it was up to Will. He kicked off the leg of the Boss as he dropped Sharpen and focused his Mana into boosting his speed. He reached the pair right as the icicles came in, and pivoted to deflect them with Whisper and Shout. His blades moved like water, fluidly dancing between projectiles and knocking them aside. Several smaller shards got through, and even with Okembe’s reactive telekinetic push and Metrodora’s Mana Barrier all three members of the party ended up with cuts and scratches across their bodies and faces. Still, a deadly attack was now a minor annoyance, and Will didn’t wait for thanks before darting back to re-engage. The fighting continued, and though they took injuries and used potions to restore themselves, nobody was forced to drink the Last Resort and they were keeping up with the Boss. Eventually, Metrodora made the connection Will had been hoping someone would before he had to.

[The wounds heal quicker the closer to the centre of the chest they are I think. Met]

[Focus fire at the centre then! Unk, keep those swords away from me. Will]

Will used Okembe’s shield as a platform to leap from, and brought his twin blades to bear against the Bosses chest as Unk kept its’ swords busy. His blades went deep, and he managed to kick off the arm of the Boss to get another few swipes in, letting a retaliatory swipe pass underneath him as he twisted his body in the air and landed deftly beside Daphne.

“Overcharge your bird right at its’ centre, I think I saw a core!” He shouted.

[Met, Okembe, big bomb in its’ centre, now! Will]

Thankfully, their relative inexperience didn’t stop his time from following instructions, and Will dumped his remaining Mana, trusting in Empowered Buffs and his practice to sustain this next move. He surged forward, much faster than he’d run with Alacrity so far, and as wind whipped past his head and he navigated the icicles that provided hurdles and obstacles, he saw Daphne’s firebird fly overhead at double its’ normal size followed right behind by a full cauldron that leaked spatters of oil-smelling liquid.

“Endure!”

He shouted the Spell as he cast it, hoping it worked as well as it had in the last few days of practice. As he leapt into the air and felt the explosion against the Sentinel’s chest send a wave of flame and force into his body, his Mana strained to support all three buffing Spells, only his training with the Soul Anchor allowing him to sustain such a drain. His skin tried to burn, but the force of Mana prevented more than a redness appearing on the flesh as he followed the incendiary burst and drove Whisper into the now exposed core of the Boss.

Greater Elementals, like this one, had a core about the size of a human head. A smooth, blue and white marbled sphere which radiated absolute cold and Mana that prickled his mind even as his blade pierced the stone-like surface of the core and caused it to shudder and snap in two. The crack that sounded in the cave caused most of the icicles to either burst or snap from the ceiling and crash down, and even as he landed and cheered at their victory he heard a scream of pain behind him.